Police Academy

Credit: Gene Trindl/MPTV

Bubba Smith Dies

Originally posted 08/04/2011 07:00AM

Bubba Smith, the larger-than-life 1971 Super Bowl winner with the Baltimore Colts who played the mild-mannered Moses Hightower in six Police Academy movies, was found dead in his Los Angeles home Wednesday. He was 66.

The cause of death was not immediately determined, but the Los Angeles County coroner's office said in a statement, "There is no indication of anything other than natural death."

"I had no idea that he was even ill or that anything could be wrong," former Michigan State teammate Gene Washington tells the Detroit Free Press. "It's incredibly sad, because Bubba was such a larger-than-life figure. Nothing surprised you with Bubba."

The 6'7" (some accounts added an inch to that), 300-lb. Texas native was born Charles Aaron Smith and made his name on the field as a fearsome defensive player for Michigan State University.

Read More